A nomogram model for assessing predictors and prognosis of postoperative delirium in patients receiving acute type A aortic dissection surgery.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative delirium (POD) complicates the postoperative course. There is limited information on POD-related risk factors (RFs) and prognosis in patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) after modified triple-branched stent graft implantation (MTBSG) surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively examined consecutive ATAAD patients who received MTBSG surgery in our hospital between January 2013 and December 2019. We employed univariate and multivariate analyses to identify stand-alone RFs for POD. A nomogram was next generated to estimate POD occurrence. The primary outcome was the development of POD, and the secondary outcomes were intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stays, hospitalization costs, and in-hospital and follow-up mortality. RESULTS: We selected 692 patients, of whom 220 experienced POD (31.8%). Based on our analysis, the following factors enhanced the likelihood of POD development: alcohol consumption (p < 0.001), acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score (p = 0.023), serum total bilirubin (p = 0.007), stage 3 acute kidney injury (p < 0.001), serum interleukin-6 (p = 0.031), post-operative analgesics usage (p = 0.015), and ventilation duration (p = 0.008). POD patients had significantly longer ventilator times (p = 0.003), ICU stays (p < 0.001), and hospital stays (p = 0.038), together with increased hospitalization costs (p < 0.001) and in-hospital mortality (p = 0.019). However, POD was not a RF for mortality during follow-up (log-rank p = 0.611). CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated a strong link between POD and poor prognosis in ATAAD patients. We also constructed a prognosis estimator model which will benefit early management guidance to minimize the incidence of POD.

Thyroid hormone, cortisol, interleukin-2, and procalcitonin regulate postoperative delirium in acute type A aortic dissection patients.

BACKGROUND: We assessed the relationships between levels of preoperative thyroid hormone (TH), cortisol, interleukin-2 (IL-2), and procalcitonin (PCT) and postoperative delirium (POD) in acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) patients receiving modified triple-branched stent-graft (MTBSG) implant surgeries. METHODS: ATAAD patients received MTBSG implant surgeries in our hospital between February 2019 and December 2020 were recruited. We separated them into a POD and non-POD cohort and employed univariable and multivariable regression analysis to establish independent correlations between preoperative THs, cortisol, IL-2, and PCT and POD. In addition, we conducted stratification analyses to examine the link between pre-surgical THs and POD in normal TSH and lower TSH subgroups. RESULTS: POD occurred in 78 of 224 patients (34.8%). POD patients exhibited markedly reduced preoperative free triiodothyronine (FT3) (P = 0.008) and free thyroxine (FT4) (P = 0.023) levels, while remarkably enhanced preoperative cortisol (P < 0.001), IL-2 (P < 0.001), and PCT (P < 0.001) levels. Based on multivariate regression analysis, reduced preoperative FT3 (P = 0.032), as well as augmented preoperative IL-2 (P = 0.001), cortisol (P < 0.001), and PCT (P = 0.016) were strong stand-alone risk factors for POD. Moreover, subgroup analysis found the association between FT3 (P = 0.029), FT4 (P = 0.042) and POD was both significant in patients with normal TSH levels. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced preoperative FT3 and elevated preoperative cortisol, IL-2, and PCT were strong indicators of POD in ATAAD patients. Hence, we recommend that the thyroid function, cortisol, PCT, and IL-2 should be evaluated prior to surgery in ATAAD patients.

Myocardial injury and inflammatory response in percutaneous device closures of pediatric patent ductus arteriosus.

BACKGROUND: The percutaneous device closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is widely used in clinical practice, however full data on the changes in myocardial injury and systemic inflammatory markers' levels after PDA in children are not fully reported. METHODS: We have conducted a retrospective analysis of the medical records of 385 pediatric patients in our hospital from January 2017 to December 2019. The patients were distributed into five groups. The first four (A, B, C and D) included patients divided by the type of the surgical closure methods, namely ligation, clamping, ligation-combined suturing and ligation-combined clamping, respectively. The fifth group E comprised of percutaneous device PDA patients. All recorded medical and trial data from the five groups were statistically studied. RESULTS: No serious complications in the patients regardless of the classification group were reported. Our results suggested that there were no considerable differences between the groups at the baseline (with all P > 0.05). Group E demonstrated a significantly smaller operative time (42.39 ± 3.88, min) and length of hospital stay (LOS) (4.49 ± 0.50, day), less intraoperative blood loss (7.12 ± 2.09, ml) while on the other hand, a higher total hospital cost (24,001.35 ± 1152.80, RMB) than the other four groups (with all P < 0.001). Interestingly, the comparison of the inflammatory factors such as white blood cells (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), as well as the myocardial injury markers (CKMB and troponin I) did not show a significant increase (P > 0.05) among the four groups. On the contrary, when the aforementioned factors and markers of all the surgical groups were compared to those in group E, we observed significantly higher speed and magnitude of changes in group E than those in groups A, B, C, and D (with all P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although the percutaneous device closure of PDA is more comforting and drives fast recuperation in comparison to conventional surgery, it provokes myocardial injury and overall inflammation. Timely substantial and aggressive intervention measures such as the use of antibiotics before operation and active glucocorticoids to suppress inflammation and nourish the myocardium need be applied if the myocardial and inflammatory markers are eminent.